Page 46 of Beautiful Beast

We turned to Yrre, and I observed her. Her eyes were downcast, but I sensed no remorse. Soza was the same. Every time she’d tried to bed us, we knew. She was sent away by the enchantments surrounding our apartments, and we let her believe it was only that. Even when she tried to fly in from the outside. But we knew.

We hadn’t addressed it because it was of no consequence, but I was now glad we had kept it quiet, if only to see the unjustified anger in her gaze. “Did you think we didn’t know what you have been doing, Soza?”

Sirrus allowed her to speak. “My lord, please.”

“You could only have two motives. Either you wanted to see Princess Katalena rejected as you have been, repeatedly, to ease that place in your soul that is wounded by our indifference?—”

A choked laugh interrupted me, and Zovai crossed to the window, leaning against the wall and enjoying himself. “Though,” he added, “if that was your plan, surely you didn’t believe this would endear you to us?”

“Or,” I continued, “you hoped we would see her presentation and unleash ourselves on her when she would not understand why. And even if neither of those were your aim, presuming to know our minds and desires is not your place.”

“Princess?” Soza asked, skin pale.

“Princess Katalena Isabel Arslan Savea of the human kingdom Gleira,” Zovai supplied.

“If I had known…”

A needle of wind pointed at her throat, just waiting to end her life. “If you had known who she was, you wouldn’t have tried to humiliate and harm her?”

Without prompting, Sirrus floated an image into our minds, and I smiled. My dragon smiled too. That was perfect. “You are held to the same punishments as your friends,” I said. “And if you wish to see the sky again, you will follow us of your own free will. If we have to force you?”

I let the words hang in the air.

When we left the room, they scrambled to run behind.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

________

KATALENA

The dragons disappeared in a cloud of fury. Chills rolled over my skin, and I kept my arms firmly wrapped around myself.

“Would you like me to find you something else to wear?”

I startled, having forgotten briefly about the fourth dragon. Bright green eyes rested in a face that was at once hard and soft. Beautiful and harsh.

“My name is Idroal. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I mean you no harm.”

“I—thank you. I think I would like something else.”

With a look that quickly took in my whole appearance, the dragon turned and left the room, returning short minutes later with trousers and a shirt that clearly belonged to one of the Heirs. “Will they be angry I’m wearing their clothes?”

“No.” A laugh. “Based on their reaction, I suspect wearing their clothes will soothe their dragons. I shall give you a moment to change.”

While I was alone, I wriggled out of the dress. It wasn’t easy, considering how tightly Soza had melded it to my body, and the fabric tore in my attempt to get free. I no longer cared. Embarrassment still sizzled beneath my skin. Part of me believed I should have suspected this would be the case. I asked, and they lied.

There was no way for me to understand the truth, given the divide between dragons and humans, but it still stung. The similarities in the paint on my skin should have made me ask more questions.

I’d essentially offered myself to Endre in the same way. But being sent into it unawares felt different.

And still, despite that, the way they’d looked at me. I wanted that. Like they’d been so close to losing control that they would give in and give us what I couldn’t ask for and they had yet to take. Yet they’d looked at me nearly the same in the plain dress I wore this afternoon.

I smiled at the thought. It wasn’t merely a pretty dress that made them react this way. It was me. And nothing would change that, despite what I’d been set up for.

The trousers were far too large. I tore a strip from the puddle of fabric at my feet, tying it around my hips several times to keep them in place. The shirt was dark and soft. It smelled of smoke and embers in the gentle way of a morning’s banked fire. But also a darkness that made me shiver as much as it made me curious.

I picked up the dress and piled it in my arms, along with all the jewelry except my necklace. It was then the dragon returned. “I’ll take that.”

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